FUKU – Singapore’s First Fugu aka Puffer Fish Restaurant

November 06, 2014

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[Updated May 2015] FUKU the first restaurant in Singapore that specialise in fugu puffer fish, has introduced three new offerings which includes Soya Bean Fugu hotpot, Red Miso Fugu hotpot and Shabu A5 beef hotpot.

“What? Puffer fish sperm” This is by far the most exotic food item I had this year.

Dare or not? Deciding whether to go dine at FUKU, probably Singapore’s first fugu kaiseki restaurant, took me a few days. In the end, the notion of “we only live once” won.

It is not all the time we can enjoy this delicacy right at home, not in such as full course manner.

While some Japanese restaurants serve blowfish as appetizers or sashimi, none has taken this bold step of serving menus ranging from $150 per person for a 6-course (Ebisu) to $580 per person for a 9-course Wild Fugu set.

There is even Hiresake which is hot sake with Tora Fugu fin.

This Shichi-Fuku set requires a 5-day advance booking, each item showcases a different preparation style with various parts of the Fugu. You end up eating almost every part, except for their poisonous internal organs of course.

If you worry you may die or get paralysed from all the blowfish horror stories you read online, FUKU’s chefs have more than 20 years of experience as Fugu practitioners. All the air-flown fish (prized Tiger Puffer) have to be removed of their toxic and cleaned, while some are farmed varieties that are bred without the poisonous organs.

Puffer fish may be a significant item of the Japanese food culture, but I suspect that it would take Singaporeans to warm up to fugu – may it be because of the fear, cost, or simply the lack of appeal.